Device allowing for the variation of the stresses on the operating chocks in multicylindrical rollers

ABSTRACT

DEVICE ALLOWING FOR THE VARIATION OF THE STRESSES EXERTED UPON THE WORKING CHOCKS OF ROLLERS, WITH THE AID OF JACKS DISPOSED OUTSIDE THE SUPPORT HOUSING OF THE SAID ROLLERS AND MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING THE STRESSES TO THE CHOCKS BY MEANS OF APPROPRIATE AXLES AND ACTUATING ARMS CONNECTED TO THE JACKS.

Jan; 19, 1971v L. RjBoURNEz ET AL DEVICE ALLOWING FOR THE VARIATION OFTHE STRESSESON THE OPERATLNG CHOCKS IN MULTICYLINDR'ICAL ROLLERS 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July l, 1968 Y d VIVE DEvIc LLowTNG FOR THEVARIATION oF THE sTR'EssEs 0N THE ERATING CHOCKS IN MULTICYLINDRICALROLLERS Filed July 1, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 jan. 19., 1971 L, R, BOURNEZETAL 3,555,872

DEVICE ALLOWING FOR THE VARIATION OE THE sTREssEs ON THE OPERATINGOHOOKS IN MULTIOYLINDRICAL ROLLERS Jan. 19, 1971 L. R, BOURNEZ ET ALv3,555,872

DEVICE ALLowING FOR THE VARIATION 0F THE sTREssEs oN THE OPERATING CEO DAL ROLLE FIC-3.6

United States Patent O im. ci. Bzib 31/32 U.S. Cl. 72-245 18 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Device allowing for the variation of thestresses exerted upon the working chocks of rollers, with the aid ofjacks disposed outside the support housing of the said rollers and meansfor transmitting the stresses to the chocks by means of appropriateaxles and actuating arms connected to the jacks.

In French Pat. 1,489,069, iiled on Apr. 22, 1966, there is disclosed acombination of means which allow for the equilibration or balancing andregulation, in the course of rolling, of the stresses to which thechocks of the working cylinders in multicylindrical rolling mills aresubjected. With the present invention, a certain number of simplifyingsteps and improvements for the devices disclosed in the afore-mentionedpatent are proposed.

In the previously disclosed arrangement the different jacks, whetherthey be pre-stressing or `balancing jacks, are all disposed inside thesupport housing for the rollers. Since the space available therefor isgeneral-ly very limited at the point where these diierent jacks must bemounted, a certain limitation of the capacity, and therewith of theforce or power, of these jacks is of necessity imposed on their design.

In accordance with the present invention, it is advantageous that aspecific num-ber of jacks from among those which are part of theentirety of the device described in the afore-mentioned knownarrangement be disposed outside of the support housing of the rollermill. The jacks in question are those which act or engage at the outerends of the respective chocks to form equalizing or balancing means forthe working rolls. For this purpose it suices to suitably lengthen thehorizontal pivot axles of the four balancing means in a manner suchthat, at least at one side of the support housing, each axle projects toa sufficient extent toward the outside of the corresponding post so asto be adapted to support a transverse actuating arm being likewisedisposed essentially horizontal and upon which the corresponding jackwill come to act.

These actuating arms are accordingly disposed entirely at the outside ofthe housing or cage of the roller, parallel to the wall of the posts andvery close thereto, upon which wall, on the other hand, the jacks aresecured in a substantially vertical position prior to acting upon thearms. One is thus at liberty with such an arrangement to choose standardjacks which are available on the market whose capacity will bejudiciously brought into conformity with and adapted to the length ofthe acting or engaging lever, and may therefore be of a higher capacitythan heretofore usable with such an arrangement.

Furthermore, other jacks of the prior art system could be entirelydispensed with in the device as proposed by the present invention. As amatter of fact, the prior art construction of the device comprised asingle-effect or singleaction jack at each end of a balancing means andthe oscillating movements thereof were assured by the alternative pushesor thrusts of these two jacks.

Patented Jan. 19, 1971 According to the present invention, the acting orengaging arms of the pivoting axles of the balancing means are hingedlyconnected, for example with the aid of a pivot connection, at the end ofthe piston rod of the corresponding driving jack. Since this jack is onethat has a double-effect or double-action, such a provision makes itpossible that the jack assures by itself not only the ascendingmovements but also the descending movements of the end of the balancingmeans with which it is hingedly disposed.

In the embodiment being considered, the device does not comprise morethan eight jacks, as compared to the presence of twelve jacks in theprior art device, not counting the main tightening jack of the roller.

According to another embodiment it is possible to reduce by half thenumber of exterior jacks to be provided. This may be accomplished simplyby interconnecting, or coupling with each other, the two outer actuatingarms disposed on the same side of the longitudinal central plane of theroller with the aid of a single jack whose cylinder will be pivota-llysecured to the end of one of these arms while the rod of the same jackis, in turn, secured in the same manner to the end of the arm beingcoupled to the iirst one. In this second embodiment, there remain onlyfour prestressing jacks and two regulating jacks, besides the tighteningjack.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for varyingthe stress exerted on the chocks of working rolls which provides formore simplified and accurate control than heretofore attainable.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device of thetype described which permits the use of jacks of increased capacitywhile providing an e'icient and economical construction.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device ofthe type described which eliminates or otherwise altogether avoids thediiculties inherent in similar known arrangements.

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following description when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes ofthe illustration only and by no means in a limitative manner, apreferred embodiment according to the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a roller equipped with anarrangement for positional control of the chocks as proposed by thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, at an enlarged scale, taken along lineI-I of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view, at an enlarged scale, of thedevice in question, taken along line II-II of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an alternative embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view, at a larger scale, taken along lineIV-IV of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a -ball and socket joint forsecuring a fluid jack to an actuating lever.

In the various figures, the same elements have been identified with likereference numerals wherever possible to aid in understanding theinvention. The posts of the support housing, such as post 1 in FIG. l,are substantially rectangular in shape being provided with a windowwithin which the chocks 2 and 3 of the upper and lower supporting rollsor cylinders, and the respective chocks 4 and 5 of the upper and lowerworking rolls or cylinders are supported at either end of the rolls. Thelower chock 3 of the lower supporting cylinder is supported on a maingripping or tightening jack 50 positioned in the bottom of 3 the windowwith the chocks 2, 6 and 7 being supported thereon.

Two blocks 4 and 5 are permanently secured to the inner surfaces of thewindow in any known manner in each of the two posts, each blockcontaining hollowed portions or cavities provided therewithin so as toaccommodate an arrangement in accordance with this invention designed toassure the equilibration of the stresses exerted upon the cylinders byeffecting positional control over the chocks 4 and 5 of the workingrolls, and, if needed or desired, to control also the pre-stress, aswill not be described. The blocks 6 and 7 are also provided withpre-stress jacks 55 to provide basic spacing and positioning between thechock '3, the blocks 6 and 7, and the chock 2 in the window of theposts.

Two cavities 8 and 9 having an elongated shape are provided in each ofthe blocks 6 and 7 at the respective levels of the horizontal planesthrough the axles of the two upper and lower working cylinders, the twocavities extending perpendicularly to these axles and each accommodatinga bearing arm 17 extending out of the respective block into engagementwith one of the working chocks 4 or 5.

Disposed perpendicularly to each of the cavities 8 and 9, that is tosay, in a direction parallel to the axle of the corresponding workingcylinder and within the same horizontal plane including these cavitiesis a second hollowed portion or cavity provided to accommodate an axle14 for effecting pivotal operation of the bearing arms 17. As seen inFIG. 2, each second cavity may have a different diameter on either sideof the cavities 8 and 9 which correspond thereto, the larger one of thediameters in question being situated at the side of the bearing arm17where the actuating lever 21 of the exterior ljacks forming thebalancing means for the stresses will be installed. In FIG. 2 the boreshaving the larger diameter are designated 10 and the extension thereofhaving a smaller diameter on the side opposite the hollowed portions 8and 9 is designated 11. Bearings 12 and 13 provided as separate bearingsare mounted inside each of the respective bores 10 and 11.

Four axles 14 are mounted in the second cavities in each of the blocks 6and 7 and turn respectively in each of the bearings 12 (two completebearings) and 14 (also two complete bearings). The central portion ofeach of the axles 14, that is to say, that part which is comprised atthe inside of the hollowed-out portions 8 or 9, comprises means forconnecting and driving the respective arm 17 in rotation, which armmoves inside the cavities 8 or 9 thereof, driven by the oscillations ofthe axle |14 which supports it. In the case being considered, asparticularly seen in FIG. 3, these driving means consist of gear teethand corresponding grooves 15 on the respective parts by means of whichthe driving connection is established. Of course, other known connectingmeans could be used as Well without sacrifice of advantage. The arm 17bearing at the free end thereof a supporting bushing 18 will come to bepositioned in a longitudinal groove 19 provided for this purpose on theside of the working chock 4 or '5 which faces it. A piece 20 made fromtreated metal is preferably slipped into the groove 19 for preventingthe wear and tear thereof.

During its oscillating movements, the arm 17 will come to bear firstupon one and then upon the other of the edges of 'groove 19 lined withthe piece or element 20, thus causing-in correspondence with the arm 17which engages with it-ascending or descending vertical movements of thechock.

The end of the axle 16 which projects out from the vertical wall of thecorresponding post comprises, quite like the central portion of the sameaxle, means for connecting and driving the outer arm 21, which again maycomprise any known arrangement connecting a lever to a crank arm.

The actuating arm 21 is secured, with the free end there- 4 of, to theend of the piston rod of its driving jack 23 by means of a bearing slot22 and pin 24, or other pivotal connector, such as a ball-and-socketjoint as shown in FIG. 6.

The arm 21 is provided with a cylindrical bore A125 terminating towardthe inside in a spherical socket 126. A ball '124 is located in thissocket and has a cylindrical, threaded bore for the reception of the end122 of jack 23, which end is likewise threaded. The conical opening 128through which jack 23 extends allows the jack to conform to themovements of the ball 124. An end regulating member 221 is threadablyreceived in the end of the arm 21 and is provided, at one end, with aspherical seating portion adapted to the diameter of ball 124 and, atthe other end, with a square cross-section socket. By removing capmember 121, a square key can be placed in the square socket forregulating member 221 into its working or operating position.Thereafter, the cap member 121 can be replaced on the extremity of arm21.

A bracket or other fastening element 25 being suitably secured to thepost of the support housing is connected to an axle 32 around which thecylinder of the corresponding jack 23 may pivot. Pipes 26 and 27 areprovided for the supply of liuid pressure to operate the jacks 23, whichcontrol is effected from the central control desk or stand.

A stationary block or wedge 33 having a constant thickness is interposedbetween the lower horizontal face of post 1 and the upper horizontalface of chock 2 so as to prevent the movable equpiment from abuttingagainst the transverse portion of post 1 due to the pressure of jack 50.

The operation of the invention lshould be apparent from the foregoingdescription. Control of the jacks 23 through selective application offluid thereto via lines 26 and 27 results in a rotation or cranking ofthe respective actuating arm 21 about the axis through the axle 14connected thereto. This in turn results in a raising or lowering of theend of the arm 17 secured to the axle 14 to provide for upward ordownward pressure on the chock supporting the work roll in proportion tothe force exerted by the jack 23. Coordinate control of the four jacks23 thereby results in desired stress control ofthe rolls.

It is thus apparent that, without the limitation regarding space, it ispossible to provide for large-dimensioned jacks and, consequently,obtain stresses on the chocks of the working cylinders that are assignificant as is desired.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 relates to a device havingsix jacks instead of the 12 jacks required in the prior art or the 8jacks required in the embodiment of FIG. 1, not including the tighteningjack 50.

This embodiment differs from the previous embodiment only in that thejacks 23, instead of being pivotally secured to bracket elements 25fastened to the support housing are entirely independent thereof, eachjack cylinder being mounted pivotally at the end of the one of the arms21 with the end of the corresponding piston rod being mounted likewisein a pivoting manner at the end of the other arm 21 situated on the sameside of the roller with respect to the axle line of the cylinders.

As a result of the novel connecting of the jacks in accordance with thisembodiment, stress control of the rolls is greatly simplified. Since asingle jack provides the control for two arms 17 on a common side of thetwo chocks 4 and 5, a coordination of the pressure and direction ofcontrol occurs automatically. As compared to separate control over foursuch jacks, this arrangement is far simpler and provides for much moreaccurate control.

It should be noted in passing that in both cases the embodimentsproposed by the present invention moreover afford the advantage ofsimplification with respect to the machining of the blocks beingdesigned to support the rocker arms, the axles and the jacks thereof.

Finally, the devices according to the present invention, both thosedisclosed in the prior art patent and those described hereinabove, allowfor bringing the arms 17 and 21 into a perfectly horizontal position,which is the position for the disassembly and re-assembly in a rapid andeasy manner.

We have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with thepresent invention. It is understood that the same is not limited theretobut is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to aperson skilled in the art and we, therefore, do not wish to be limitedto the details shown and described herein, but intend to cover all suchchanges and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of theappended claims.

We claim:

1. In a multiroll rolling mill including a support frame having a windowwithin which lthe chocks for the support rolls and the pair of workingrolls are supported, an arrangement for effecting variation of thestresses exerted on the working chocks comprising a pair of blocks eachdisposed on a respective side of said working chocks in said window andbeing supported by the support frame.

oscillating levers supported by at least one block for pivotal movementabout horizontal axes parallel to the working rolls, said leversextending into engagement with the working roll chocks for effectingvertical displacement thereof, and

jack means including at least one uid jack secured to the support frameat a point spaced from said blocks for effecting rotation of saidoscillating levers to thereby regulate the stress on the chocks of saidworking rolls.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein both of said blockssupport a pair of oscillating levers engaging with respective workingroll chocks from opposite sides thereof.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said jack means includes afluid jack for each oscillating lever and linkage means connecting saidjacks to the respective oscillating levers for actuation thereof.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said jack is adouble-action jack.

5. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said jack means includes asingle jack for the oscillating levers supported by each block andlinkage means pivotally connecting respective ends of each jack torespective pairs of oscillating levers for actuation thereof.

6. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said blocks containcavities within which said oscillating levers o and part of said linkagemeans are disposed.

7. The combination defined in claim 6 wherein said blocks each contain apair of first cavities at the levels of the upper and lower Workingrolls, respectively, and disposed transversely to the axis of saidrolls, said oscillating levers being positioned within said firstcavities.

8. The combination defined in claim 7 wherein said blocks each contain apair of second cavities at the levels of said first cavities anddisposed transversely thereto so as to intersect with said firstcavities, said linkage means including an axle in each second cavityconnected to the oscillating le-ver in the first cavity intersectingtherewith.

9. The combination defined in claim 8 wherein said second cavities havea first portion of one diameter and a second portion of larger diameteron opposite sides of the oscillating lever, said second portion beingconnected to an actuating arm forming part of said linkage means.

10. The combination as defined in claim 9 wherein said axle in eachcavity is connected to an actuating lever which is connected to one endof a fluid jack.

11. The combination as defined in claim 9 wherein said axle in eachcavity is connected to an actuating lever, said fluid jacks havingrespective ends connected to respective actuating levers.

12. The combination as defined in claim 9 wherein said actuating armsare connected to said axles by way of engaging grooved surfaces.

13. The combination as defined in claim 12 wherein said axles areconnected to said oscillating levers by way of orthogonal return armsdisposed Within the cavities in said blocks.

14. The combination as defined in claim 13 wherein said orthogonalreturn arms are secured to said axles by way of engaging groovedsurfaces.

15. The combination as defined in claim 14 wherein supporting bushingsare provided on the free end of said oscillating levers engaging withthe working roll chocks.

16. The combination defined in claim 15 wherein said oscillating leversextend into respective horizontal grooves in said working roll chocks toeffect engagement therebetween for purposes of vertical movement.

17. The combination defined in claim 15 wherein one end of said fiuidjacks are pivotally secured to said support frame and the other end ispivotally secured to an actuating lever.

18. The combination defined in claim 17 wherein said fluid jacks aresecured to said actuating levers by way of ball and socket joints.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,898,007 2/ 1933 EWart 72-2431,935,091 11/1933 Iversen 72-239 FOREIGN PATENTS 644,874 9/1962 Italy72-245 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner B. J. MUSTAIKIS, AssistantExaminer

